Chelmsford energy-saving project heads to April vote

By Grant Welker, gwelker@lowellsun.com

Updated:
04/06/2013 10:08:30 AM EDT

CHELMSFORD -- Rooftop solar panels would be added to each of the town's schools, and streetlights would be retrofitted with LEDs as part of an $18.1 million energy-efficiency and conservation project that would also include less visible aspects, such as better insulation and low-flow water fixtures.

If voters at Town Meeting on April 29 approve the project, the town would take energy savings from increased efficiency and invest it in more energy-saving features. The savings are guaranteed by Johnson Controls, a company hired by the town for the project.

Chelmsford spends about $1.6 million on utility costs each year for the schools and other buildings it owns. A review of buildings showed that budget could be reduced by 43 percent, or $688,000, by adopting the changes proposed by Johnson Controls.

"The funding for the project exists in that budget today," Jim Cotton, a general manager for the company, told the School Committee last month. He also presented the plan to the Board of Selectmen.

"In the long term, it's a terrific idea," Jon Kurland, the selectmen chairman at the time of the hearing, said in an interview, praising the proposal both for its environmental and financial benefits.

"This would be the type of program that helps us essentially be self-sufficient from fossil fuels," Kurland added. "It's a very ambitious plan, but I think it's a plan that will save taxpayers over time.

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Solar panels, generating a total of 2.4 kilowatt-hours of energy each year, would be added to the roofs of all seven public schools, plus a ground-mounted solar array behind the Harrington Elementary School. The Community Education Center, formerly the Westlands School, and the new Department of Public Works building under renovation on Alpha Road would also have rooftop solar panels.

Those systems are expected to offset $333,000 a year in energy costs.

School Committee members expressed concerns at a March 26 meeting about the ground-mounted array at Harrington, including potential vandalism. But it is a central piece to the feasibility of the project, and it would serve as a visible and educational component for the community, Cotton said.

Parker Middle School's conversion from steam heat to hot water would be completed, and unit vents would be replaced at Parker, the high school, the Byam and Harrington elementary schools, and the Community Education Center. A chiller at Center Elementary would also be replaced.

The School Committee members voted 2-0 to support the project, but three members -- Janet Askenburg, Michael Rigney and Evelyn Thoren -- abstained, saying they wanted to hear from Police Chief James Murphy and others in the community before voting.

Town Hall would get a new boiler, among other equipment, the Senior Center would get a new furnace and cooling system, and other buildings, including fire stations, would also get more efficient equipment. More than 2,200 streetlights townwide would be retrofitted with efficient LEDs, or light-emitting diodes.

Construction is slated to begin in July. The school work would mostly take place during the summer or other school breaks or after normal school hours, Cotton said.

By the end of the 20-year contract with Johnson Controls, the project should earn the town more than $24,000 annually thanks to efficiency improvements and the solar panels, he said. Costs for the upgrades and equipment will initially be covered by borrowing this summer, and will be repaid by funds freed up from the utility budget because of savings.

The town's so-called carbon footprint, the effect of power consumption on the environment, would be reduced by the equivalent of taking 431 cars off the road, according to a Johnson Controls estimate.

Chelmsford is also looking to lock in current electricity rates for town-owned buildings for another two years while rates are down, Town Manager Paul Cohen said.

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